Wharton Center collaboration brings awareness to human trafficking

Wharton Center’s new dance and theater piece, “Among the Darkest Shadows,” is bringing the topic of human trafficking to center stage.

As part of the Wharton Center’s Dance Series, this collaboration between Inlet Dance Theatre of Cleveland and playwright José Cruz González tells the stories of Lodi, a young victim of labor trafficking, and Pinta, a victim of sex trafficking. The stories of these victims’ journeys are told largely through González’s choreography and use of poetic images and symbolism.

“We like to say the play is about human trafficking, that’s the river that runs through it,” said Bert Goldstein, director of the MSU Federal Credit Union Institute for Arts & Creativity at the Wharton Center. “As our playwright says, it’s really about the ability of the human spirit to survive terrible circumstances.”